Goodbye Arrow.

 

 The Power of the Dog - Rudyard Kipling

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day; 
And when we are certain of sorrow in store, 
Why do we always arrange for more? 
Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware 
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear. 

Buy a pup and your money will buy 
Love unflinching that cannot lie
Perfect passion and worship fed 
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head. 
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear. 

When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits, 
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs 
To lethal chambers or loaded guns, 
Then you will find - it's your own affair, -
But ... you've given your heart to a dog to tear. 

When the body that lived at your single will, 
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!), 
When the spirit that answered your every mood 
Is gone - wherever it goes - for good, 
You will discover how much you care, 
And will give your heart to a dog to tear!  

We've sorrow enough in the natural way, 
When it comes to burying Christian clay. 
Our loves are not given, but only lent, 
At compound interest of cent per cent, 
Though it is not always the case, I believe, 
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve; 
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong, 
A short-time loan is as bad as a long - 
 So why in - Heaven (before we are there) 
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?  

Aylesbury Arm

Clear. I can see all the way down to the bottom of the canal here at Puttenham,

It's pretty unusual to see the bottom of the rudder and the end of the skeg it sits on. I think this means there's been very little traffic here recently.

Aylesbury

Down to Aylesbury.
The Aylesbury arm is a quiet backwater but I think it's worth a visit. The arm is only 6 miles long but there are 16 locks to negotiate. Moorings are a bit sparse and some sections of the canal are only just wide enough for a single narrowboat. I used to go to school in Aylesbury, crossing the canal every day, so taking the boat to Aylesbury was on my wish list

Here's the replacement for the bridge I used to cross

There are actually plenty of visitor moorings once you get the centre of Aylesbury, and also at Circus Fields, the Aylesbury Canal Society's basin just outside the centre, so you could quite easliy spend two weeks in the centre of Aylesbury.
Today, I refitted the restored Cratch board. I've changed to colour and adjusted the position of the horn so it faces forward rather than down.

Oops. Cratch Crush.

Oops! Novice driver's encounter with a tree. The cratch board took the brunt of the impact.

Thanks to the design of the board it sits on the edge of the well deck with locating pins but it's not bolted down. Instead of resisting the tree, the board was able to move up and back. The glass popped out as the board flexed but didn't break.

Rain All Day

The last leg of this trip was from Braunston to Gayton. On the way I received a call from Gayton Marina to let me know the scheduled lift-out and blacking has been delayed a couple of days because the boats currently being blacked are delayed a couple of days due to the weather. It's been raining all day so I'm not surprised. Moored at Gayton 16 miles, 4½ furlongs and 13 locks

A Night at the Marina

For a change, I moored Syncopation in Braunston Marina overnight because they have electric hookup available. Still raining. Here's a picture of one of the port holes with spider web-patterned condensation:

Moored at Braunston Marina. 8 miles, 2 furlongs and 6 locks

Napton Pill Box

I watched Dunkirk last night and saw thos pillbox today. We were going to fight the Germans across Britain from structures like this in 1940.

Moored at Napton top lock 12 miles, 6¾ furlongs of narrow canals; 7 narrow locks.

On the Way to Gayton

Rain nearly all day but luckily most of today's cruise was lock free so I was able to shelter under an umbrella. In the evening I fitted an engine hours counter to replace the one built into the tachometer. The original has gone the way of most of the ones in the Beta control panel. Damp causes the LCD display to fail. Mine is very occasionally visible, like a lunar eclipse. I've run the mechanical replacement on a 12v supply for a few months at home to get it to the 1800 hours the engine has run for. Now it's connected. I just need to make a hole of the correct size and mount it permanently next to the tacho. Moored above Napton top lock. 12 miles, 6¾ furlongs and 7 locks

New Alternator

The charge light for the domestic alternator came on couple of weeks ago. After some diagnostic work with the multimeter I found there was no charge from the alternator. Google found me an alternator repairer to n Milton Keynes. Diagnosis was stator and regulator fried by overheating. It was more cost effective to source a new unit than rebuild it, so here is the shiny new alternator in place:

Moored below Clayson bottom lock. 1 mile, 5¾ furlongs and 3 locks

Two Paths

Two Paths

Punting with Erik

Here's why we went to Oxford: The Oxford University Scout and Guide Group's 100th anniversary dinner. As former members we attended both the formal dinner at Somerville college on Saturday and the punting and picnic on Sunday. Cathy even got to hold the group mascot, Erik the panda, for a little while. Grateful thanks to the organisers.

Near Banbury

On our way to Oxford

Crusty

Needs a little vaseline I think:

Annual maintenance time. The terminals on the engine battery need a clean and dressing.

Repurposed Shower Pump

A small error in the winterisation process meant I dumped the contents of the fresh water tank into the cabin bilge over the course of a week. There's no bilge pump for the cabin bilge as it's supposed to stay dry. However, after a small investment in poly tubing  I was able to temporarily repurpose the shower pump to empty the spilled water from the bilge inspection hole.

pipe from the inspection hole

pipe to the bathroom

shower pump connected to temporary pipe

It was so successful I'm thinking of connecting the pipe permanently via a three way valve. Or maybe a spare shower pump.

Last Day to Aynho

We finished this year's summer expedition at Aynho.

Total distance is 9 miles, 2¾ furlongs and 5 locks
Moored at Aynho Bridge.

Kirtlington

Here is the sign at Thrupp telling passers by on the busy road adjacent that this is the Oxford canal. A pity the hedge has grown since it was put here.

We bought ice creams from Annie's Tea Room at Thrupp then passed on through Shipton Wier lock

There's room for about three boats where we stopped at Kirtlington quarry. Although the edge is rather broken concrete the setting is very quiet.

Total distance is 6 miles, 1¼ furlongs and 4 locks
Moored at Kirtlington quarry.

Kidlington

Much of the crew spent a lot of today dealing with chores on land (fetching GCSE exam results, delivering Hannah back home), so we moved only a short distance.

Total distance is 3 miles, 7½ furlongs and 3 locks
Moored at Kidlington

Aristotle Bridge

Another really full day. We to set off promptly today as we needed to be in Oxford this evening to pick up the car and collect exam results. On-board systems failure made for a change of plan. The toilet clogged just after setting off. After about 20 minutes poking and banging the pipes, I decided we needed a new pipe.

This is the pipe originally installed in 2008.
I took the bike back to Tadpole Bridge, picked the car up and after telephone enquiries with Tooleys boatyard in Banbury made my way to Lee San in Fenny Crompton where I purchased a new length of pipe. Problem solved, not a moment too soon for the crew.
We took the Duke's Cut to rejoin the Oxford canal.

I found a mooring at Aristotle Bridge.

Total distance is 19 miles, ¾ furlongs and 6 locks
Moored at Aristotle Bridge, Oxford canal.

Leaving Letchlade

Having made it all this way we turned around this morning after buying supplies in town and headed downstream.

 Letchlade church in the morning

We stopped again for the night at Tadpole Bridge, for access to the car which we had left here one our way up the Thames.

Total distance is 10 miles and 5 locks.
Moored at Tadpole Bridge.

Letchlade

A somewhat easier day to near the head of navigation of the Thames for powered craft (you can actually get about a mile further to the junction of the former Cotswold canal). Lots of pillboxes to be seen as the Thames was one of the WWII 'stop lines' for defence in case of invasion. We passed about dozen swimmers going the other way. Reading the sign on the accompanying boat, they were apparently on holiday. We were joined aboard by Hannah.
Fish and chip supper for all from Marion's Plaice in town.

Total distance is 10 miles and 5 locks
Moored at Letchlade